


The Night Has Only Just Begun

by real_live_angelface



Series: Bunny/Stevie [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types
Genre: (Nonbinary didn't exist as a term in 1991), AFAB Stucky, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Awkward Tension, Nonbinary-implied Disaster Lesbians, Other, Sexy Times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:08:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28008213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/real_live_angelface/pseuds/real_live_angelface
Summary: Halloween, 1991Cambridge, EnglandStevie and Bunny go to a party and meet someone that makes them question everything they know about each other.A sequel.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Stephanie Greta "Stevie" Barnes/Jamie Berenice "Bunny" Barnes
Series: Bunny/Stevie [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2051379
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	1. Just Like Honey

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cranberry_bar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cranberry_bar/gifts).



> This fic is meant to be a gift for my beta, cranberry_bar. Thank you for all the editing help you've given me these last few months! I know how much you love angst, so I did my best. 💖
> 
> ~~Schedule is daily, one chapter per day until it's done. UPDATE: I am in the middle of moving and got behind on editing this baby, so the remaining three chapters will be posted a little late. I'm aiming for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, December 18, 19, and 20. Final schedule: December 20, 21, and 22.~~
> 
> Since this is an AU, I recommend reading Part 1 to get acclimated to this version of the characters and world.
> 
> And of course, I made a [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6nrwaDyA5iz3QikWapab0H), one song per chapter, so if you want, you can get a peek as to the mood journey of this fic. ;)

“Okay, so maybe trim the sides a little more,” Bunny said. “It’s supposed to be more like a quiff.”

“What?” Stevie asked, raising her eyebrows and meeting Bunny’s eyes in the mirror. “What did you just say?”

Bunny rolled hir eyes. “The hairstyle, Stevie. It’s called a quiff. Get your head out of the gutter.”

Stevie grinned and resumed cutting Bunny’s hair. They had both just finished dying their hair black for their Halloween costumes, though Stevie’s usual cut matched the genderfluid Princess Knight’s hairstyle almost exactly. She had spent weeks scavenging parts for the costume from charity shops in London, modeling it off of the original manga from the 1950s. Bunny was going as Desire, the genderless character from the _Sandman_ comics, whose costume was easier being that it was basically just a suit, though Desire’s hair was far shorter than hirs was at the moment. That’s how it came to be that Stevie was cutting it into...a quiff, as Bunny had called it.

The past year had been a whirlwind, with Bunny at school and Stevie working on her portfolio for art school, then going back home over the summer, and then coming right back just in time for Bunny’s summer internship and Stevie’s new job at the crêperie in town. Even though they’d technically been together for over a year now, it still felt like such a novelty sometimes, and Stevie still hadn’t gotten sick of seeing Bunny in all hir many aspects. Right now, that was Bunny sitting there in nothing but an old tank top and leopard print briefs, tousled hair falling over hir forehead. It was hard to concentrate on the haircut with a view like that. On impulse, Stevie bent down and kissed the side of Bunny’s neck, sputtering as she promptly got some loose hairs in her mouth.

Bunny smiled at her in the mirror. “If you hurry up and finish my haircut, we might have time for a quickie before the party.”

Stevie could feel the heat rising to her cheeks. She rushed to finish the job, almost cutting her fingers open with the sharp shears in her haste. When she was finished, she carefully bundled up the towel full of hair trimmings and helped Bunny rinse hir head and neck off in the tub.

“It’s perfect,” Bunny said, inspecting hir hair in the mirror afterwards. Ze turned to face Stevie, posing beautifully, tilting hir head just so. “What do you think?”

Stevie swallowed hard. “I think you’re the perfect embodiment of Desire.”

Bunny batted hir eyelashes. “Aw, you always say such nice things, my princess knight. Now how about it? Wanna have a little fun with one of your swords before we go?”

“You want to?” Stevie breathed, already shedding her underclothes on the way over to their box of sex toys.

“Hell yes,” Bunny said. “I don’t think I’ll be able to handle seeing you in your full costume otherwise.”

Stevie barely registered that as she rushed to untangle their harness.

“Which one do you want?” she asked.

“Mmmm,” Bunny said, flopping back onto the bed. “The purple one, please.”

“Yeah, okay,” Stevie said, snatching the sparkly purple cock out of the box and sliding the rubber ring over it, biting her lip in concentration as she tried to get the whole thing on without tangling it up again. Once she’d done up the buckles, she joined Bunny on the bed, one hand snaking down to press against the warm, wet spot between Bunny’s legs, the other reaching up to tangle in Bunny’s wet hair.

“Mmm, I like that,” Bunny said, trying to thrust down against Stevie’s hand at the same time that ze jerked hir head to the side, giving Stevie a pleading glance.

Stevie yanked hir hair hard and ze gasped in satisfaction, arching up off the bed.

“Kiss me?” Bunny said, and Stevie’s mouth crashed against hirs.

They made out for a little while, hands groping wildly at each other, teeth scraping lips and sinking into soft skin. Stevie accidentally stretched Bunny’s top beyond repair, though the thing was worn enough that it hadn’t been that hard to do. Bunny pretended to pout about it, then ripped it off, throwing it over hir shoulder with joyous abandon before ze wiggled out of hir briefs. Stevie reached out to pull hir close again, running her palms down hir warm sides, enjoying the soft swell of Bunny’s ass underneath her hands, but before she could do anything else, Bunny tackled her onto her back and straddled her.

“Shit,” Stevie yelped, feeling like she might burn alive at any moment, Bunny’s gaze hot on her skin. Ze lifted an eyebrow, rising higher onto hir knees, and Stevie nodded, her breath going shallow.

Bunny promptly re-positioned, sliding down onto Stevie’s cock in one smooth movement, hir eyes fluttering shut, a satisfied moan escaping hir lips. Stevie’s hips twitched up before she even thought about it. But Bunny just rode the motion out, pushing down against her, one hand reaching between hir legs.

“Let me.” Stevie pushed Bunny’s hand away so she could slide her fingers between their bodies.

Bunny seemed to have reached that higher plane of existence ze sometimes achieved when they made love, a radiant look on hir face as ze rode Stevie slowly, savoring every movement, bottom lip trapped between hir teeth. The harness straps chafed deliciously between Stevie’s legs, underneath her ass cheeks, and she found herself rubbing up against Bunny every time they came together, trying to wring as much sensation from the movement as possible.

Bunny opened hir eyes and caught Stevie’s gaze, hir lips curling wickedly as ze sped up. Stevie stared up at hir in awe, that surreal feeling that she had often felt when they first got together flushing through her again. She couldn’t even believe this was her life. Bunny lightly slapped her side and Stevie snapped out of her reverie, obligingly clamping her free hand to Bunny’s hip and rearranging her legs so she could keep thrusting up against hir. Her other hand was cramping up now, but she did her best to ignore it, moving her fingers faster against Bunny.

“Oh god,” Bunny said, hir head falling forward. Ze was growing steadily louder and more insistent, filthy moans punctuated with Stevie’s name as ze chanted it like a litany. Sweat was breaking out along Stevie’s hairline, tickling the top of her lip. She curled her fingers up and Bunny cried out, the cock sucking up inside of hir, caught in an iron grip. Stevie gripped hir hips with both hands now, grinding up with short, deep thrusts, sweet little gasps of appreciation spilling from Bunny’s lips until ze collapsed shuddering against her chest.

“Don’t stop, don’t stop, I’m gonna come again,” ze said, though ze was absolutely boneless at this point.

Stevie tried to keep up the momentum, but the angle was different, and besides, her abs were burning like crazy. After a moment of consideration, she pushed Bunny gently to hir back, kissing the protests from hir mouth, and crawled between hir legs.

“Oh, good,” Bunny said, hir expression dreamy and content. “I like me some missionary sometimes.”

“Your hand this time,” Stevie gasped, as she lined the cock up and slid back in, hitching Bunny’s legs up so she could get the proper angle.

“Ungh, yes,” Bunny said, reaching down to touch hirself. “Fuck yeah, Stevie, just like that.”

Stevie fucked hir through a second orgasm, feeling close to the edge herself, and then Bunny went down on her, one hand jerking off the cock as ze licked between Stevie’s legs. And because Bunny was all about equal opportunity, ze made Stevie come twice, too, fucking her with hir fingers the second time around, leaving Stevie spent and sweaty on the bed.

“Where you going, Bun Bun?” she asked, as Bunny slipped away from her.

“Bathroom,” Bunny said, picking a hair from hir mouth and flicking it away. “Then we can cuddle.”

Stevie supposed she ought to go to the bathroom, too, for general genitourinary health. She winced, flexing the fingers of her right hand, trying to ease the pain in her palm, though she quickly stopped once Bunny had emerged from the bathroom.

“Be right back,” she said, ignoring the look Bunny was giving her.

When she got back from the bathroom, Bunny was sitting cross-legged on the bed, still naked, an open tube of chocolate-covered biscuits balanced precariously on one knee.

“Lie down here,” ze commanded, patting the bed next to hir.

Stevie did as she was told, letting Bunny feed her three biscuits in a row. She loved when ze was like this, so tender and fierce. If only they had more time to spend together like this, without their schedules breathing down their necks. Bunny curled over Stevie to kiss the crumbs from the edges of her mouth, smiling down at her serenely before taking Stevie’s hand in both of hirs.

“You gonna let me help you with this?” ze asked, massaging her palm gently.

Stevie shrugged. “It’s fine, Bun. It was worth it.”

“Grrrr,” Bunny said, hugging Stevie’s hand against hir chest and glaring down at her. “Let. Me. Help. You!”

The only logical response to that was to lean up and kiss hir, and then, of course, Bunny kissed her back. And, of course, that meant that they both got hot and bothered again, so they made love again. Then finally, after another round that left Stevie’s bits feeling ecstatically numb, they stretched out into perfect cuddle formation, basking in the afterglow. It was almost tempting to consider skipping the party, their painstaking preparations be damned. It felt too good to just lie there with Bunny in her arms.


	2. Stray

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enter Montgomery "Monty" Falsworth, usually known as a member of the Howling Commandos, but in this AU, he's one of Bunny's mates from uni. Other characters TBA. :)

They arrived at Monty’s flat two hours late. The party had officially become a rager by then, which meant that their grand entrance was greeted by a wave of drunken cheers. It was incredibly satisfying, even though only about half of the room recognized Bunny’s costume, and nobody really knew who Stevie was. Everyone else’s costumes were cool, of course, running the gamut from the usual generic stuff to at least two Terminators, one Ninja Turtle, and a very cute Spiderperson. Even so, Bunny thought Stevie was still the most beautiful and interesting person there by far.

“Bunny!” someone yelled, and Bunny turned just in time to see Monty, in full Elvira drag, stalking over to them in black, patent leather heels.

“Holy shit,” Stevie said.

“Oh my god, Monty!” Bunny said. “You look so fucking good!”

Monty pouted dramatically. “Excuse me?”

Bunny winced. “Sorry. I mean, you look fantastic, _Elvira_.”

Elvira practically launched herself into hir arms, planting a sloppy kiss on hir cheek, half of her martini sloshing out of her glass and onto the floor.

“Like, thank you!” she said, in a perfect Valley girl accent. “Now, let’s have a look.” She held Bunny at arm’s length, taking in hir costume. Bunny knew she was a huge comics nerd, so ze hoped that she would get— “Oh my god!” Elvira continued. “Of _course_ you’re Desire! I didn’t know you liked _The Sandman_!!! You look absolutely terrifying!”

Bunny smiled. “Thanks, I think.”

“Oh, that’s definitely a compliment,” Elvira said with a smirk. She turned to plant a kiss on Stevie next. “And look at you, Princess Knight. You can rescue me from a dungeon anytime.”

“Wait, you recognize me?”

Elvira put an indignant hand on her waist. “You dare question my comics cred?”

Stevie laughed. “No, of course not.”

“Um, like, excuse me. Aren’t you forgetting something? It’s boring to have a title if no one uses it.”

Stevie hesitated a moment, then bowed deeply. “My apologies, Mistress of Darkness. Of course I’m not questioning your comics cred.”

Elvira smirked. “That’s what I like to hear. Now come with me, ghouls. I have someone I want you to meet.”

She dragged them further into the flat, where a person in a perfectly tailored old-fashioned military uniform was leaning alone against the wall, looking a little bit lost in the noise and chatter. Her thick brown hair was half pinned up in what Bunny was fairly certain was a 1940s-era style, and her lips were painted bright red to match her nails.

In a word, she was fucking gorgeous.

Bunny glanced over at Stevie before ze could catch hirself, then wished ze hadn’t. Stevie looked absolutely stunned. It made hir stomach twist unpleasantly, trapped between something that could theoretically be interpreted as arousal and something else that ze didn’t dare call jealousy. Ze had thought ze wasn’t prone to that kind of thing. Apparently, there had just never been a reason for it until now.

“Peggy Carter!” Elvira said, adding “she, her” as an aside to Stevie and Bunny. “Meet my friends Stevie — she, her — and Bunny — ze, hir. These are the _Americans_ I was telling you about.”

“Oh, right. The _Americans_ ,” Peggy said, grinning wide, showing off her perfectly crisp red lipstick, and of course, her teeth were perfect, too. Bunny didn’t know whether ze wanted to talk to her or run far, far away. Ze purposefully avoided looking over to see if Stevie had managed to stop looking like a deer in headlights yet.

“Remember not to ask them about Ronald Reagan,” Elvira said.

“Funny,” Bunny said. “Didn’t you only just manage to get rid of Thatcher?”

Peggy burst out laughing, and Elvira gasped.

“Oh my god, that’s so savage!”

“Is that an SSR uniform?” Stevie asked suddenly.

Peggy’s devastatingly beautiful brown eyes lit up at that. “Why yes, it is! It’s a 1940s—”

“Standard issue dress uniform,” Stevie finished, grinning.

“Yes,” Peggy said, her gaze going intense.

“Is it vintage?” Stevie asked.

“Oh no,” Peggy said. “I made it myself. Though I did salvage the buttons from Army surplus the last time I was in the States.”

“That’s fucking rad,” Stevie said, stepping closer.

Bunny tried to ignore hir growing feelings of apprehension. Stevie, it just so happened, was a huge WWII history buff, and especially when it came to American and British relations. Though Bunny was technically a history buff, too, and had at least had an overview of the war during high school and again at Cambridge, hir interests lay more in Russian history, and less so on the war stuff.

“I just knew they would get along,” Elvira said, holding out an arm. “Come along. I’ll make you a drink.”

Bunny hesitated. A small part of hir wanted to hang around, even though the conversation was clearly only between Stevie and Peggy now. The other part of hir was horrified to be having such a reaction. It wasn’t jealousy. It couldn’t be. Ze trusted Stevie. Ze really did. And anyway, Stevie hadn’t really made any friends here yet, so maybe this would be a good thing. Melina was always saying it was important that each of them have their own friend groups, even if those groups overlapped a bit. She had warned them repeatedly about the dangers of letting your life get subsumed by your partner’s life.

“Um, I’m gonna go get a drink...” Bunny said.

Stevie nodded, eyes still on Peggy. “Okay, Bun, I’ll be here.”

Bunny bit hir lip. “Do you want me to bring you anything?”

“Nah. Thanks, though.” She still hadn’t looked over.

“How about you, Peggy?” Bunny forced hirself to ask.

Peggy blinked over at hir, as if she’d forgotten Bunny was there. “No, thank you.”

Stevie leaned over to kiss Bunny’s cheek. She was so distracted that she practically kissed Bunny on the ear. Bunny stood there for a second longer, trying not to feel sick, then let Elvira pull hir away.

“Jealous much?” Elvira asked, when they had reached the relative privacy of the kitchen.

Bunny wished ze could tell Monty to quit using that stupid American accent and just talk normal, but that would probably be rude, and only make things worse.

“Don’t worry, Peggy’s going back to London on Sunday,” Elvira added, a knowing look in her eye.

Bunny just scoffed. “Shut up. Now, where’s this damn alcohol you were talking about?”

* * *

Bunny managed to distract hirself for at least an hour, talking to a random devil about the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, which led to an argument about whether or not Girlschool was completely underrated. And then ze had totally killed the conversation by saying ze had mostly stopped listening to heavy metal and classic rock because ze had gotten sick of all the straight white dudes.

The entire time, Stevie hadn’t budged from her spot on the wall next to Peggy, and even still they were deep in conversation about who knows what. Bunny drifted back over, leaning in as Stevie put an arm around hir shoulders, but that was about all she did to acknowledge hir presence. Peggy practically ignored hir, which was both crushing and infuriating at the same time. Stevie was usually the one who couldn’t hold a conversation, especially with people she had just met. Ze wasn’t used to feeling like the third wheel. _Especially_ not with Stevie.

They’d moved on from talking about World War II to _Silence of the Lambs_ , and even though Jodie Foster was very much an enthusiastic _Yes_ in Bunny’s book, ze hated psychological horror movies. It didn’t take long for hir to peel away again and drift toward the kitchen to fix hirself another drink, doing hir level best to ignore all the nasty thoughts filtering through hir head. It was a _good_ thing that Stevie had found a new friend, right?

Ze sighed and scanned the room, the music blaring louder now that about half the people in the room were busy sucking face instead of talking. Black Sabbath’s _Changes_ was droning over the speakers.

“I feel unhappy, I feel so sad. I’ve lost the best friend, that I’ve ever had,” Ozzy sang mournfully, making hir feel more depressed than ze already did. Elvira came sweeping through the room handing out shots to whoever wasn’t currently indisposed, and Bunny tossed hirs back without comment as soon as ze got it. Their eyes met as an echo-y moan sounded from the direction of the loo.

“Oh my god, I hate my friends,” Elvira said in her sing-song Valley girl voice. She stumbled over to the bathroom and banged on the door. “You’d better clean up after yourselves, or there’ll be _hell_ to pay!”

The door opened and Elvira paused, cocking her head to the side. After a moment’s hesitation, she tossed a grin over her shoulder and disappeared into the bathroom. Bunny glared at the closed door for a moment then walked over to the record player to lift the needle, cutting Ozzy’s lament mercifully short. Ze squatted down to pick a new record from Monty’s paltry collection, nearly over-tipping onto the cardboard box on the floor. After a brief flare of indignation at the lack of options, ze finally settled on the Rolling Stones album _Let It Bleed_ , because that was exactly how ze felt.

Ze sighed heavily, glancing over to see that Stevie was _still_ talking to Peggy. What a fucking night. Ze was supposed to be having _fun_ right now, not standing around feeling like yesterday’s news while everyone else literally got some right under hir nose. After hovering awkwardly for a minute, trying not to stare at any of the makeout sessions around hir, and similarly trying not to bore a hole into Peggy’s head with the power of hir glare, ze finally decided to go back to the kitchen to see about another drink.

A vampire was standing there alone, wobbling back and forth as he tried to drink vodka straight from the bottle while keeping his teeth in. After spilling a good amount down the front of his frilly white blouse, which had already looked wet to begin with, he yanked the plastic teeth out of his mouth and threw them across the kitchen, almost hitting Bunny with them.

“Oh, shit! Sorry, love!”

“It’s kinda par for the course at this point,” Bunny muttered.

“Tell me about it,” the vampire groaned. “My ex and the man he _cheated_ on me with are out there snogging on the couch. I didn’t even know they were going to be here. I should have left hours ago.”

Bunny wanted to commiserate. Ze wanted to say, _Yeah, well, my partner is busy falling in love with another person as we speak._ But saying it out loud could make it come true, and maybe, just maybe, there was still a chance ze might be able to win Stevie back before it was too late.

A smaller voice in hir head piped in with _You’re just mad because this person didn’t even notice_ you _exist._

Ze couldn’t decide what felt worse, being jealous that Stevie was giving all of her attention to another person, or being jealous that Peggy didn’t want to be hir friend, too. Ideally, ze wouldn’t be jealous at all. Hadn’t ze and Stevie already been through enough at this point to prove their loyalty to each other? Why would ze think that ze even needed to be friends with Peggy? Maybe that could just be Stevie’s thing.

“You want some?” the vampire asked, sliding toward hir along the kitchen counter, clearly needing to use it to stay upright. He held the bottle of vodka out. Bunny shrugged and took a long drink.


	3. Lazuli

Stevie opened her eyes, a dull headache vibrating through her skull. She lifted her head, rubbing at a dried patch of drool on her cheek with a grimace. She was lying face-down across the bed, and Bunny was nowhere in sight. And her clothes felt weird. 

Oh, she was still in the Princess Knight costume. 

And oh. shit. Peggy Carter. 

And _Oh. Shit._ Bunny. Bunny had been absolutely wasted.

Pieces of the night were coming back now. The blur of her conversation with Peggy Carter. Finding Bunny curled around an empty bottle of vodka on the disgusting floor in Monty’s kitchen, a cheap costume cloak draped over hir body. It looked like Bunny had been crying, hir makeup all smeared, and the guilt hit Stevie like a knife through the heart, remembering that. Yep, she’d fucked up. Royally. She should have realized something was off when Bunny stopped coming by to check in. She should have known it was rude to get carried away like that, talking to Peggy.

Stevie had managed to get Bunny to sit up and drink some water when Peggy and Monty showed up to help. Bunny had taken one look at Peggy, staggered to hir feet, and headed for the front door, leaving Stevie to collect their things and catch up. When they’d arrived at home, ze had locked hirself in the bathroom, completely unresponsive to all of Stevie’s entreaties to let her in.

Stevie stumbled to her feet, the jostling movement bringing awareness to her bladder, which was shrieking in alarm now. She knocked on the bathroom door and still got no response. All she could think about was Bon Scott’s death by misadventure. After a moment of hesitation, she decided to pick the lock. She found Bunny in the tub. It was a relief to see that ze was still breathing, though the position ze had passed out in can’t have been comfortable. 

Stevie really had to go now, but it felt weird to use the toilet while Bunny was sleeping right there, without at least saying hello first. But she couldn’t hold it in much longer. Bunny didn’t stir at all when she peed, and not even when she flushed.

She went to get a glass of water and some crackers, setting everything on a plate with a couple of aspirin, though the sight of it all made her own stomach queasy, so she couldn’t imagine how Bunny would react. When she stepped back into the bathroom, Bunny was awake, grimacing up at the ceiling and rubbing the back of hir neck.

“Hey, Bun,” Stevie said, her voice catching. She cleared her throat.

“Mmmmnphf,” Bunny said, covering hir face with hir hands. “Turn out that light. It pains me. I think someone turned me into a vampire.”

Stevie would find that amusing, if things weren’t so fucked up between them at the moment. She flicked the light switch with her elbow, the glass of water sloshing as she set the plate down on the toilet seat and knelt by the tub.

“I brought you some stuff.”

“Cool,” Bunny said, still not meeting her eyes.

“Bunny, I’m sorry,” Stevie said, the words swelling up in her mouth. “I fucked up. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to ignore you last night.”

Bunny’s shoulders were practically up to hir ears now. “It’s fine.”

Stevie sat back on her heels, trying to decide what to say next. Bunny was obviously still upset about it.

“Thanks for checking on me,” Bunny said, reaching for the water. “You can go now.”

“Bunny, we need to talk about this.”

“Why, though?” Bunny asked, pressing the glass against hir forehead. “You apologized. I’m over it.”

Stevie frowned. “Are you though?”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe?”

Bunny sighed. “Honestly, I don’t know. Look, I feel like shit, Stevie. And you look like shit. So go take care of yourself and if you really want to talk about this more, we can do that later.”

Stevie tamped down on the urge to pick away at the situation until Bunny agreed to talk about it now. Her legs were falling asleep. She realized she’d just been sitting there, zoning out, and Bunny was starting to get annoyed.

“I’m going, I’m going,” she said, staggering to her feet, wincing at the pins and needles in her calves. The phone rang, the sound a sharp stab of pain in her head, and she limped to the main room to answer it.

“Well,” Monty said. “Sounds like you and Bunny survived. You didn’t call me when you got home like you promised.”

Stevie closed her eyes, pressing a hand to her aching forehead. “God, sorry, Monty. I totally forgot. It was...” she hesitated, mindful of the air of expectant silence emanating from the bathroom. “Quite a night,” she finished.

“Yes, I imagine it was. I didn’t think you and Peggy would like each other quite so much.”

 _Fuck_. Stevie clenched her eyes shut. Monty technically was Bunny’s friend, so it wasn’t surprising that he was going to have an opinion about all of this.

“Mind your own business,” she said finally.

“I suppose this means neither of you are coming to brunch.”

“No, we’re not going to brunch! Did you _see_ Bunny last night? Neither one of us are in any shape—”

“Go to brunch!” Bunny shouted from the bathroom.

“Goddamn it,” Stevie said, to no one in particular.

“Peggy’s going to be there, isn’t she?” Bunny yelled. “You should totally go.”

The words flushed through Stevie like ice, the handset cutting into her hand as her grip tightened. It made her sick to think of seeing Peggy again, before she’d had a chance to really sit and think about what the _fuck_ had happened last night.

“I gotta go, Monty,” she said, trying her best to keep her voice level. She didn’t even wait for him to answer before hanging up, forcing herself to breath slowly, in and out, through her nose. She was dizzy now, her mouth dry, stomach painfully cramping with hunger or anxiety or both. She forced herself to go over to the sink and chug a glass of water, gagging against the taste. She could hear Bunny scrambling out of the tub, the soft footfalls as ze walked across the room toward her.

“I’m being serious,” ze said. “Go to brunch.”

Stevie took a deep breath, turning to face hir. “What are you doing?”

“What do you mean?” Bunny asked, squinting against the light coming through the windows.

Stevie placed her empty glass into the sink before she could drop it. 

“Why did you say that stuff about Peggy?”

Bunny’s expression flickered, too fast for Stevie to register what she’d seen, and then ze shrugged.

“Because it’s the truth? You probably want to see her again before she heads back to London.”

“No,” Stevie said, because that much was easy enough to figure out. Just because she had accidentally picked Peggy over Bunny last night didn’t mean she’d do it intentionally today.

Bunny crossed hir arms across hir chest. “No?”

“Of course not!” Stevie snapped, her patience wearing through. “Why would I want that?!”

“I don’t know! Don’t yell at me!”

They stared at each other for a long, tense moment. Everything was confusing and Stevie's head hurt. She knew she loved Bunny with all her heart. There was no doubt about that. Bunny was absolutely, undeniably irreplaceable. But if she really let herself think about it, she couldn’t deny that there had been some kind of spark between her and Peggy, too. And Bunny had obviously noticed it. She could feel her face flushing, panic rushing through her. Bunny was looking at her knowingly. Or maybe she was imagining that. Bunny couldn’t actually know what she was thinking, could ze?

“Come with me,” she said. “We can swing by the crêperie and get a bunch of free food to cure our hangovers. Just you and me.”

For some reason, that made Bunny look sad. Ze shook hir head, avoiding Stevie’s gaze. 

“Like I said, Stevie, I feel like shit. I think I just need to be alone for awhile.”

The request was reasonable enough. Stevie tried not to feel too hurt by it. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that if she didn’t do something to fix this _right now_ , then everything would fall apart. Bunny was all curled in on hirself now and Stevie wanted to reach out, but that would be a terrible idea. If she tried to push Bunny any further, it would only make things worse. She couldn’t even understand how things had gotten this bad, but it had obviously started with her behaving like an asshole last night.

“I’m not going to go to brunch with them,” she said, trying to keep the strain from her voice. “I’m just going to go get some food from work, and then I’ll come right back.”

Bunny nodded.

“Do you want me to bring you anything?” she added, before she could stop herself.

Bunny shook hir head, just the barest hint of movement. “Just go, please.”

Stevie hesitated a moment longer before bundling her shoes and coat under one arm and rushing out the door. It was only when she was halfway down the block that she remembered she was still in her stupid costume.


	4. Changes

Bunny slumped against the kitchen counter once Stevie had gone, resting hir aching forehead on the cool tiles. If only ze could erase the last 24 hours of hir life... 

Things hadn’t seemed off before the party, though. Ze tried to think back on their day yesterday, but the anxiety had already set in, a cold weight in hir belly, blurring hir memory. Stevie had seemed distracted at one point, while they were making love. At the time, Bunny hadn’t thought much of it, but now the memory loomed like a portent of what was to come.

Ze shouldn’t have pushed Stevie on the Peggy thing. Ze should have just left it alone. Ze couldn’t really remember what had happened last night, after ze had started drinking with that vampire in the kitchen, but it must have been bad. Stevie had been super shaken up this morning. All anxious and over-attentive. Being treated like that always set Bunny on edge. It reminded hir too much of how hir dad used to treat hir.

Everything hurt, and the greyish light spilling through the windows seemed a personal affront to Bunny’s very existence. Ze thought about going to the corner store to see about getting something to eat, but it seemed like too much effort. Instead, ze grabbed the phone and snatched hir address book and calling card out of hir bag, curling up on the messy bed.

Bunny tried dialing Yelena first, even though there was a slim chance, at best, that ze would manage to catch Natasha there. She had been traveling around Europe the last couple of months with Sharon and Melina. Last Bunny had heard, they’d been staying with Yelena in Berlin, and they were planning to come to London just in time for New Year’s.

The phone picked up after two rings, and a gruff voice answered in Russian.

“May I please speak to Yelena?” Bunny asked, wishing ze had gotten around to learning that little bit of phone etiquette in Russian that ze had be meaning to memorize for ages.

“No,” the voice replied.

“Okay,” Bunny said, wondering if this was one of Yelena’s roommates or what.

“Sorry, she is not here.”

“All right. Thanks, anyway.”

“Goodbye,” the voice replied.

“Wait! Can you tell her I called?” Bunny asked, but the line had already clicked dead.

Ze stared at the phone, pressing a thumb over the switch to keep the line closed. No Natasha. No Sharon. No Melina. No Yelena. Ze certainly couldn’t call Stevie’s mom about this. And if ze tried to talk to hir dad, his brains would probably melt. He had been trying hard to be less ignorant and more understanding, but there was only so much queerness someone like him could handle at once.

Ze started to dial Tony, then dropped the handset back in its cradle. Tony was a good friend, one of the best, but he talked a lot, and ze wasn’t trying to use up all of hir minutes on one conversation. Plus, he was terrible at relationship advice. He’d probably tell Bunny to break up with Stevie before Stevie broke up with hir or something.

Bunny’s stomach swooped at the thought. Ze buried hir head under the covers and squeezed hir eyes shut. Ze couldn’t think about that now. It was too much. Ze groaned and rolled onto hir other side, dragging all the sheets and blankets with hir. A door slammed somewhere in the building. Hir head twinged in commiseration, and a wave of nausea crawled up the back of hir throat.

“Mrghhh,” ze said, burrowing deeper. “I hate alcohol.”

Ze truly felt like shit, a weak, shaky feeling running all up and down hir limbs, an uncomfortable line of pain in hir stomach. Stevie had been acting so weird about last night. Even though she hadn’t done anything wrong. It had just been a conversation, right? Granted, it had been a really long one, but still. Based on what Bunny remembered, ze thought it was likely that ze had overreacted about it. It had been harder to admit that earlier, when Stevie was hovering over hir.

All ze could think about was how guilty Stevie had looked when she left. What if she had already decided she liked Peggy better? She had obviously clicked with her, though she hadn’t wanted to admit it. She was too loyal. They’d just stay together until the inevitable day that Stevie would come to resent hir.

“Stop it!” Bunny said, rubbing viciously at hir temples, wincing at the feeling, like hir skull was full of shards of glass. “I trust her, I trust her, I trust her. She’d tell me if that’s how she felt. She’d definitely tell me.”

Eventually. Probably.

Bunny pushed the blankets back in alarm, shuddering at the sudden loss of warmth. What if that’s what Stevie had wanted to talk about earlier this morning? 

Ze stared up at the ceiling, trying to repress the urge to go find Stevie at the crêperie. Ze had been the one to ask for space. Ze couldn’t go back on that now. And ze had to trust Stevie. If ze went down that other road too far, doubted her too much, then there might be no turning back from that.

Ze managed to hold out for a few more minutes, but hunger was becoming a serious concern now, and Stevie had offered to bring hir food anyway, right? Maybe ze could just go meet her at the crêperie. And then maybe, based on how that went, ze could ask Stevie about what she had wanted to talk about.

Bunny went to the bathroom to stare at hirself in the mirror. God, how could Stevie even like hir? Ze looked like a badly made-up extra in a third-rate zombie movie. Ze washed hir face, brushed hir teeth, and wet hir hair down so ze could comb it into submission, debating about whether or not to use makeup to make hirself look less like the undead. But it had already been ten minutes, at least, and it felt like hir blood sugar was crashing. Besides, Stevie had been gone awhile, and Bunny didn’t want to catch her on the way back from the restaurant. Ze knew Stevie would insist on turning back, and then ze would feel bad about that… No, it was better to just go now.

By the time Bunny was a block away from the crêperie, ze was consumed with yet another wave of doubts. Maybe Stevie would be mad that ze showed up out of nowhere. Maybe she wasn’t even there, but had decided to go to Fitzbillies to meet up with Monty and Peggy, after all.

Ze shook the thoughts from hir head, looking both ways before jogging across the street toward the crêperie. Hir eyes were drawn immediately to the splash of color that ze could see through the plate glass window. It was Stevie’s sunflower yellow beanie, bright against her black-dyed hair. Bunny’s heart fluttered at the sight. She was so cute in her beanie and that bomber jacket. It was a little big on her, but it made her shoulders look so good.

And then someone in high-waisted black jeans and a leopard print motorcycle jacket turned away from the cash register, and Bunny caught the flash of brown hair and red lacquered nails. Ze panicked, crouching down below the window, ignoring the odd looks ze was getting from passersby. Ze knew ze should just leave and talk to Stevie when she got home. Or work up the nerve to walk in there and join them. Nothing good could be gained from spying on them.

Bunny peeked back over the windowsill, just in time to see Peggy peeling back her jacket, revealing a maroon cardigan and a Slits t-shirt. Ze could feel hir face flushing warm, and wasn’t that all kinds of fucked up? Who gets attracted to the person that’s about to steal your partner? 

Peggy sat down, smiling shyly. Then Stevie said something, and the smile dropped from her face. Fuck. What had Stevie said? It was hard to tell what was going on, but now Peggy looked...disconcerted.

Gradually, Bunny realized that people in the restaurant were starting to stare. A cloud of mist had formed against the window where ze had been breathing against it. Peggy’s eyes flicked past Stevie’s shoulder and met hirs, her perfectly manicured eyebrows rising in surprise.

“Shit!” Bunny said, ducking below the window and leaning up against the brick, hir heart pounding loudly in hir ears. The door opened with a jingle, but ze couldn’t bear to face Stevie now, much less Peggy, so ze scrambled to hir feet and ran off down the sidewalk.

When ze got home, ze stood numbly in the doorway for a long time, looking at the flat that ze shared with Stevie. There had been times ze had felt suffocated by its smallness. But now Bunny realized just how huge and empty it would be without Stevie to share it with. Ze wiped savagely at the tears that were running down hir face, mortified at having been caught spying on her. How would ze ever be able to explain hirself now?


	5. When The Sun Hits

When Stevie walked into the crêperie, her coworker Delia frowned at her from behind the counter.

“What are you doing here, mate? You’re not on the schedule.”

“I need food,” Stevie said, collapsing against the counter, not even noticing that she’d accidentally cut off someone who had been preparing to order. “I’m hungover as shit and my partner is mad at me because I’m an idiot.”

Delia glanced through the door to the back room. “Then tell me what you want, quick. Mabel’s here today.”

Stevie looked up at her gratefully. “You’re the best. Can I have an all day breakfast, a croissant, and an americano?”

“Yep,” Delia said, taking down the order. “Now go sit down before she catches us.”

Stevie went to find a table, ducking apologetically when she noticed the person she had cut off, who was now giving her a very sour expression. She’d just gotten her coffee and croissant when a hand clapped on her shoulder, nearly making her choke on a crumb of pastry.

“What’s this? Abandoning Bunny to hir own devices again?”

Stevie turned to glare at Monty. “You’re a real asshole, you know that?”

Monty laughed. “I was only joking. Bunny’s an adult. Ze can handle hirself. Though I have to admit last night’s drama was quite unexpected. I do hope you’ve worked it out.”

“What are you doing here?” Stevie asked, instead of answering his oblique question. Only then did she realize that someone else was there with him. And, yep. It was Peggy Carter. Of course.

“Fitzbillies was too busy,” Peggy said, embarrassed. “Monty wants to go somewhere else, but I absolutely could not stand another minute without coffee.”

Stevie tried not to notice her outfit (leopard print, black jeans), the red lipstick she was wearing again, the shy smile on her face. Well, shit. She had dug herself into this hole. Time to find her way out of it.

“Oh,” she said. Much too late, she realized. Monty rolled his eyes, and Stevie tried to go for a neutrally friendly smile.

“I’m…going to use the loo,” Monty said, giving Stevie a meaningful look.

“Traitor,” Peggy hissed, then looked back at Stevie. “I...I think I’ll order that coffee. I’ll be right back.”

Stevie sighed in relief, determined to use every second that Peggy was in line to maximum effectiveness. She took a sip of her americano, trying to arrange her thoughts into the most logical order. It seemed that she might have accidentally led Peggy on, so she owed it to her to explain the situation as clearly as possible.

The conversational agenda, as she determined it, was as follows:  
1) I have a partner. (Bunny)  
2) We’re monogamous.  
3) I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression last night.  
4) I really enjoyed our conversation, and I hope that we can be friends.

Peggy came back to the table and took her jacket off, and Stevie studiously avoided watching that. She was pretty sure Peggy wasn’t intentionally trying to be flirty or anything like that. But that intoxicating feeling was buzzing in the air between them again, spiking Stevie’s anxiety as she realized that there was nothing she could actually do about it, as much as she tried. The more she squashed the feelings down, the more she realized how attracted to Peggy she really was. Her only choice, then, was to shut this down as quickly as possible and try not to see Peggy ever again.

So strike item 4 from the agenda, then, which was sad. Stevie had been longing to make a real friend over here in England. She had plenty of acquaintances — Delia and her other coworkers, and some of Bunny’s friends from school. But she still hadn’t found anyone who seemed to get her like Sam did, or even Nat. And of course, when she finally did, it had to be Peggy Carter.

“Hey, listen, there’s something I need to say,” Stevie blurted out as Peggy settled in across from her.

Peggy’s smile dropped, and Stevie forced herself to carry on, feeling horribly awkward.

“Um, A: I have a partner. Bunny. You met hir. Um, and 2: we’re monogamous. So, um. I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression last night. I didn’t mean to. I was just excited because we had so many things in common and it’s been awhile since I’ve felt so comfortable talking to someone. Other than Bunny, of course. I mean, what I’m trying to say is that I’m not interested in you that way.”

Peggy was just staring at her, looking a bit dazed.

“I really enjoyed our conversation, though,” Stevie went on, even as her brain was screaming _Abort Mission! Abort Mission!_ “And I hope that we can be friends.”

And then Peggy’s eyes flicked over her shoulder, her eyebrows lifting.

“What is it?” Stevie asked, turning to look behind her. It took her a second to notice that most of the people in the place were staring at one particular section of the plate glass window, where a spot of mist was slowly fading away.

“I think...you should probably go home and talk to Bunny,” Peggy said carefully.

“What?” Stevie asked, turning back. Peggy was giving her a look that she was pretty sure British people reserved especially for when Americans were being particularly...American. She would have liked to have done a better job with her little speech, but it’s not like she’d had much time to prepare. It seemed like life was hellbent on moving at breakneck speed lately, and she was just trying to hold on for dear life.

Monty was in line now, very clearly attempting to eavesdrop, and then Delia came over to deliver Stevie’s crêpe and Peggy’s coffee.

“You should...probably go home,” Peggy repeated. “Maybe take Bunny something to eat?”

Stevie’s heart thudded uncomfortably as Peggy’s words fell into place. 

“Was...was Bunny just out there?” she asked.

Peggy squeezed her eyes shut. “God. Yes, Stevie!” She opened her eyes to give Stevie a miserable look. “I feel terrible. I don’t think ze meant to be seen. It was such awful timing. I’m so sorry. I was very excited to have met you, too, as I don’t find it easy to make friends, either. And then there you were, and you recognized my costume. And you could understand my hatred of Astroturf, and so many other things besides—”

Stevie could barely concentrate on what Peggy was saying, wondering what Bunny might have seen and what conclusions ze might have drawn. As if today couldn’t get any worse...

“—but I didn’t mean to ignore Bunny,” Peggy continued. “I rather liked hir, actually. Ze seemed very interesting and funny. It’s just that—”

“It’s okay,” Stevie said numbly. “Listen, I’ve got to get home.”

“Yes, of course,” Peggy said, flustered. “Shall I get you a box?”

Stevie motioned for her to sit back down, already up and headed for the back room to grab some aluminum to wrap up her food. She wasn’t even hungry anymore, but maybe Bunny would want to eat, if ze wasn’t too upset. Monty looked like he was dying to get the scoop on the latest drama, but Stevie just brushed past him. Let Peggy fill him in. She had more important things to attend to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~UPDATE: I am in the middle of moving and got behind on editing this baby, so the remaining three chapters will be posted a little late. I'm aiming for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, December 18, 19, and 20.~~


	6. Myth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a double feature, with both Bunny and Stevie's POVs.

Bunny couldn’t bear to stay in the flat, so ze went to grab a bunch of snacks from the corner store and sat in the park to eat them, huddled miserably against the cold, trying hir best to keep from crying in public. Stupid emotions. Ze wished ze could just turn them off sometimes. Ze must have made quite a sight, because a pair of older tourists speaking in broad American accents stopped to ask if ze needed any help. Ze had said no, of course, but they had still insisted on giving hir a couple of pound notes just in case.

Once ze had eaten through the bag of snacks and drunk some more water, ze finally broke down and decided to go talk to Monty. They hadn’t really reached that precise level of friendship yet, but with Natasha and family out of reach, ze didn’t know who else to turn to.

A mound of blankets holding a teacup opened the door at Monty’s flat, and the top part shifted a bit, revealing his roommate Priscilla, face hidden behind a huge pair of sunglasses.

“‘ello, what happened to you?” she asked.

Bunny dug hir fingernails into hir palms, willing hirself to keep it together a little bit longer.

“Is Monty here?”

Priscilla tutted, dragging Bunny into the flat and shutting the door.

“Why, of course he is. He and Peggy just got back from the shops. They decided to make a big brunch at home, after all, which is better for me, since I’m skint ‘til Friday.”

Bunny froze. “Peggy’s here?”

Priscilla frowned. “You do know she’s staying with us.”

“No.” Bunny pushed Priscilla’s hand off hir shoulder. “I’ve...gotta go.”

Just then Monty popped his head out of the kitchen, mouth opening in shock when he saw hir.

“What are you doing here?”

Bunny burst into tears, and he rushed over to pull hir into a hug.

“There, there, darling. What’s happened? Didn’t Stevie talk to you?”

Bunny nodded into his collarbone. “She did, but then I asked her to leave and...I can’t stay here. I saw her talking to Peggy at the crêperie.”

“Wait,” Monty said, pushing hir away gently. “You haven’t talked to Stevie since then?”

Bunny sniffled. “No.”

“Good Lord,” he said. “Why not? Stevie went right home to talk to you.”

“She did what?” Bunny asked, then froze when Peggy stepped out of the kitchen, too, an apologetic look in her eyes.

“Hello, Bunny,” she said.

Bunny could feel hir face flushing again, all manner of emotions rising up within hir, confusing and chaotic. Ze bit back the urge to yell at Peggy in a blur of territorial rage, trying to figure out how the hell to get out of this miserably awkward situation in the least embarrassing way possible.

“I owe you an apology,” Peggy said.

 _Yes, you fucking do_ , Bunny wanted to say. But ze was determined not to come across as even more of a disaster than ze already had.

“No, you did nothing wrong,” ze said finally.

“But it was rude of me to ignore you,” Peggy said. “I didn’t mean to. I really didn’t. It’s just that when it comes to talking about the topics I’m most interested in, I can become quite...focused. I forget sometimes about the rest of the world.”

Bunny made some kind of noise that ze hoped sounded like a passable acknowledgment of what Peggy had just said.

“I have no intentions toward Stevie,” Peggy continued. “She told me you are in a monogamous partnership, and I respect that. I’m sorry if I gave you any impression otherwise. And I think you should go home and talk to her.”

Bunny desperately wished that the floor would come alive and swallow hir whole. Of _course_ Stevie had told Peggy that. She wouldn’t have done anything else. Ze had _known_ that ze could trust Stevie, and had let hirself get carried away, anyway.

Monty huffed. “I just don’t understand why you both can’t date her, Bunny. It’s clear to me that’s the only way out of this debacle.”

“Aye,” Priscilla said saluting Monty with her teacup. “You have such a gift for stating the obvious.”

“I don’t like either of them that way,” Peggy said, just as Bunny said, “I don’t like Peggy that way.”

“Oh, come now,” Monty said.

“Fuck the patriarchy,” Priscilla said. “Down with heteronormativity. Monogamy is an option, not an obligation.”

Peggy and Bunny stared at each other, wide-eyed.

“Um,” Bunny said. “I should really go talk to Stevie now, I think.”

“Of course,” Peggy said.

“Please do,” Monty said.

“Good luck,” Priscilla said.

“Thanks for the apology, Peggy,” Bunny added, not meeting her eyes. Ze was feeling very queer indeed. Queer as in both the old-fashioned _and_ new-fashioned meaning of the term. But ze couldn’t really bring hirself to think about Peggy like that. At least not right now.

* * *

When Bunny got home, ze found Stevie stretched face-down on the bed. At first ze thought she might be sleeping, and hesitated in the doorway. But then Stevie shifted.

“Hey,” she said, her voice gravelly.

“Hey,” Bunny replied softly. God, ze had been such a jerk and had jumped to such ridiculous conclusions and had blown things out of proportion unnecessarily. Especially considering that Stevie had apologized right away for hurting hir feelings.

Ze stepped a little closer, and Stevie turned her head to look up at hir miserably. Her face was all red and blotchy. Bunny wanted to fall onto the bed and pull Stevie into hir arms, but ze wasn’t sure.

“Come here?” Stevie asked.

Bunny crawled onto the bed, just barely holding back hir eagerness, not wanting to overwhelm Stevie any more than she already was. Ze stretched out next to her and gave her a tentative smile, and Stevie’s mouth twitched in the tiniest of smiles.

“You’ve been crying,” Bunny said.

“Mmm,” Stevie said, closing her eyes. “So have you.”

“I’m so sorry,” Bunny said. “I didn’t mean to spy on you. Or any of the rest of it. I’m sorry for everything.”

Stevie sighed. “I’m sorry, too.”

“It’s okay,” Bunny said, wiggling closer. “You actually didn’t do anything wrong.”

Stevie opened her eyes, but it seemed like she didn’t have it in her to argue any further about that. She shifted, sliding her hands up to cradle her head in her arms.

“Where did you go?”

“Monty’s. Peggy was there and we talked. That’s not why I went...but I’m glad that’s how it worked out.”

“Mmmm. Cool. There’s a crêpe in the fridge if you want it.”

“I should have gone with you, Stevie,” Bunny said. “To the crêperie. I fucked up on that, and everything else, too.”

Stevie’s brow furrowed. “It’s fine to need time alone.”

“But—”

“I love you more than anything,” she said, her voice breaking. “I don’t care about anyone else, okay? You never have to worry about that. That’s exactly what I was telling Peggy when you saw us there.”

This time, Bunny couldn’t stop hirself from reaching out to run a gentle hand down Stevie’s back, circling slowly.

“I know that,” ze said. “And I really do trust you. I just got scared.”

Stevie turned onto her side. “I’m sorry I scared you.”

“It’s not your fault, Stevie. I got carried away in my own head.”

“It happens.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Can we just agree that we both maybe could have handled things better?” Stevie asked.

Bunny hesitated, thinking about that.

“Okay,” ze said finally. “We’ll chalk it up to being one of those fun learning experiences.”

“Exactly,” Stevie said, her lips widening into a true smile.

“I love you, Stevie. Times eleven.”

Stevie reached out and Bunny melted into her arms, still feeling like there was some undercurrent to this that wasn’t being properly addressed. Their faces came close, but Bunny leaned back before they could come together.

“Just...let it go, hunny Bunny,” Stevie whispered, meeting hir eyes.

Bunny swallowed hard, giving a little nod. “Okay.”

When they kissed, it felt like someone had thrown open the doors in Bunny’s heart, letting in the springtime, all hir sorrow and remorse rushing out like a waterfall. But behind it all, there was still that little seed of doubt. That small voice in hir head that worried that Stevie wasn’t being completely honest with herself. That there was something more to this thing with Peggy. And for the first time, Bunny could admit that ze might not be as scared about that as ze had thought ze would be. Maybe it could be about more that just Stevie and Peggy. Maybe it could be about all three of them.

* * *

Time passed, as it always does, November crawling into December. Stevie couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being haunted by her memories. Bunny insisted that ze trusted her, but Stevie felt like she couldn’t trust herself. She had done something that she had never imagined she could be capable of, loyal person that she was, and there was no turning back from it. It was a small thing, feeling a spark of possibility with a person that wasn’t your partner, but it was a terrifying thing, smoldering away inside of her, immune to all of her attempts to extinguish it. It cropped up in her dreams, in the early mornings as she lay awake listening to Bunny’s sleeping breaths, staring up at the ceiling and wondering what had happened to her. She still loved Bunny. She loved hir more now, somehow. But a space had opened up around that love, as if there was room for even more. Love. And other things.

Stevie woke in a cold sweat, as she had done three times this week already, naked and tangled in the sheets next to Bunny.

Bunny, not Peggy.

In the dream it had been Peggy.

Maybe. Or maybe it had just been Bunny. She wasn’t sure. _Fuck_.

Bunny was half-awake and watching her, waiting to see if she needed anything. That had become a routine thing, these last few weeks. Ze reached up to rub Stevie’s arm soothingly.

“Fuck the patriarchy,” ze murmured. “Down with heteronormativity.”

“What?” Stevie asked, and Bunny snapped fully awake.

“What?”

Stevie decided not to ask for clarification on that. Maybe Bunny had been in the middle of a dream, too, when Stevie had shaken them both awake.

“I’m gonna get a glass of water, you want anything?”

“I’ll come with you,” Bunny said, as if it wasn’t a mere 10 feet away.

Stevie filled a glass at the kitchen sink, raising her eyebrows as Bunny unearthed a new tube of chocolate-covered biscuits from the pantry drawer.

“In the middle of the night?” she asked.

Bunny shrugged. “It’s Saturday night. Live a little.”

Stevie had to laugh at that, though it sounded a little hysterical to her ears. She took two huge gulps of water before leaning over to steal a biscuit.

Bunny pressed up against her, and then they were making out, Stevie feeling like she was being a little desperate about it, responding to the lingering sensuality of the dream, but she couldn’t seem to make herself stop. Bunny seemed to be enjoying it, anyway, sighing into her mouth as she slid a thigh between hir legs, accidentally kneeing the lower cabinets, the pain sparking briefly before being superseded by pleasure.

“We should get a thigh harness,” Bunny said, eyes bright with mischief. “Imagine fucking me with your thigh. Wouldn’t that be awesome?”

Stevie grinned, the suggestion shunting aside all of her worries and guilt for the moment. Bunny was warm in her arms, wet against her leg, and hir mouth so beautiful and profane all at once.

“Next time we’re in London,” she promised, and then the fear came slamming back, because that was Peggy’s turf.

She kissed Bunny hard, biting hir lower lip, and pressed hir back against the counter, body thrumming with panic and desire. Then Bunny was squirming in her arms, turning to press hir ass right up against the bowl of Stevie’s hips, looking back over hir shoulder suggestively.

“Goddamn, Bunny,” Stevie said, genuinely shocked. Sure, she had thought about fucking hir against the counter before, but it never seemed to be a thing that would actually happen. Why would it, when the bed was right there?

Bunny smirked. “You like the idea, I see.”

Stevie wordlessly ran a hand over one smooth ass cheek, then down a soft expanse of thigh, fire blooming under her palm.

“Like this?” she whispered.

“Mmm-hmm.” Bunny dropped hir forehead against the counter, and Stevie ran her fingers up hir inner thigh, noting the wave of goosebumps rising on hir skin. She bent down to kiss Bunny’s shoulder blade, hand sliding up between Bunny’s legs, pressing into the wetness there.

“Like that,” Bunny sighed, shoving back onto Stevie’s fingers. “But more.”

Stevie went up to four fingers while Bunny lolled against the counter, chest pressed flat against the cold tile, one hand down by hir crotch, the other cradling hir head. Ze spread hir legs wider and Stevie half-draped herself over hir back, wrapping her free arm around hir waist, holding hir tightly.

“More, more,” Bunny said.

Stevie paused, trying to interpret that.

“Cock,” Bunny clarified.

“Oh,” Stevie said. “Okay, Bun. Let me suit up. Don’t go anywhere.”

“I won’t,” Bunny said, voice muffled against the counter.

Stevie didn’t bother to ask which cock this time, because she knew she wanted the rainbow one. It had been the first one they had bought together as a couple.

She stood off to Bunny’s side at first, the cock rubbing against hir hip as she kissed the back of hir neck, hands sliding over warm skin. Bunny twisted around to kiss her, then hip-checked her meaningfully.

It took some maneuvering, and Stevie had to bend her knees a little to get the right angle, lifting Bunny’s hips until ze was on hir tiptoes. And then she was in, and Bunny was gasping, forehead rocking against the counter, grinding back even more insistently against her. Stevie, in a moment of inspiration, pressed a flat palm between Bunny’s shoulder blades, and ze came with a happy little shriek, pounding the counter with one closed fist. Stevie withdrew once she was sure Bunny was done, leaning down to kiss the small of Bunny’s back then turning hir around to kiss hir properly, all of her doubts and fears drowning in the roar of pleasure, her body sparking with pride about having made Bunny feel so good. She was certain that she had purged the dream, finally overcoming the feelings and desires that she didn’t want and replacing them with a reality that just kept getting better and better. Everything was going to be okay now.


	7. Molten Young Lovers

Though Bunny had gotten super busy wrapping up hir fall term at Cambridge, ze couldn’t ignore the fact that things had felt different between hir and Stevie ever since Halloween. Stevie had been weird and moody more often than not lately, her kisses too earnest and desperate, and ze couldn’t help wondering what she was really thinking about the whole thing with Peggy.

After about a month or so of this, Bunny had finally asked Monty about alternatives to monogamy. He had given hir a handful of zines to read, each tackling the topic in a slightly different way. It was all a little overwhelming, and ze wasn’t even sure if ze was ready to seriously consider it, much less broach the subject with Stevie. There were so many...feelings to deal with. They would definitely have to up the ante on their communication skills, to avoid another fallout like the one that had happened over Halloween. It could end up being a lot. Too much, maybe, and ze definitely didn’t want to try it if it meant jeopardizing their relationship. Ze wished ze had gotten a chance to talk to Peggy a little bit more, to see if it could really work.

Natasha had called a few times since the Halloween debacle, but Stevie had always been home, so Bunny hadn’t been able to ask her for advice. Besides, it had felt strange enough to go behind Stevie’s back to talk to Monty about it. Ze didn’t want to do that again.

They had just finished dinner, and Bunny was trying to study for hir final exams, but all ze could think about was the counter sex they’d had at approximately 3 o’clock in the morning. It had been fucking incredible, of course, and to make things even better, Stevie had been more chipper than usual today, the mood that had haunted her off and on for weeks seemingly lifted. Now she was sprawled back on the loveseat they had liberated from a discard pile a couple of weeks ago and shoehorned into the flat. The walkway to Stevie’s side of the bed was barely a foot and a half wide now, but Stevie said she didn’t care. It was worth it to have a place to hang out that wasn’t the bed.

Bunny looked over at her, smiling when ze saw that Stevie was reading one of hir _Sandman_ comics. Ze took it as a good sign, that Stevie didn’t seem to mind the reminder of Halloween. It was too tempting an opportunity to ignore, so Bunny finally pushed back from their rickety dining room table and made hir way over to the couch, settling on the squishy armrest facing Stevie.

Stevie lowered the comic. “What’s up, Bun?”

This was the turning point, Bunny realized, feeling the true potential of the moment unfurling between them. Which choice should ze make? To speak or to stay silent? Which was worse? Ze didn’t know. All ze knew is that some doorway of possibility had been opened, and even though they had tried to close it again, there was a draft now.

“Do you ever think about Peggy?” ze asked, before ze could chicken out again.

Stevie was instantly on guard, sitting up on the couch and curling her legs underneath her. That was probably not the best opening line, but Bunny wasn’t very good at easing hir way into things. Better to just jump in all at once.

“It’s okay if you do,” Bunny added. “I do, too.”

Stevie met hir eyes, wary and disbelieving.

“I’m not just saying that,” Bunny continued. “I swear. I know I don’t have a good track record based on what happened when we first met her, but…I thought she was pretty cool. I wish I could have gotten to know her better.”

Stevie still didn’t say anything. It looked like she was wrestling with some kind of internal turmoil, and Bunny wondered if ze should keep talking or give her a minute. Ze slid down onto the loveseat, scooting a little bit closer. Stevie tensed, sucking in a sharp breath, and then she let it out with an explosive sigh, falling forward into Bunny’s arms, pressing her forehead to Bunny’s shoulder.

“Don’t you trust me anymore?” she asked.

“What?” Bunny asked. “Of course I do. Dude, I swear to god this isn’t a mind game, okay? I’ve been doing a lot of reading, and I just think it’s not fair to either of us to try and brush this under the rug. If there’s something there, there’s something there, and maybe instead of you trying to deal with it on your own, we can figure it out together.”

Stevie leaned back to meet hir eyes. “A lot of what kind of reading?”

“Zines,” Bunny said self-consciously. “About ethical nonmonogamy.”

“Ethical what? What are you saying, exactly?”

“God, Stevie,” Bunny said, cradling her face in hir hands. “I know you liked her. Like, as a friend, obviously, but maybe a little bit more. I liked her, too. And I think we can both like her. I think we could figure that out. Make it work.”

“Make it work,” Stevie echoed, a lost look in her eyes.

“I just want you to be happy,” Bunny said, dropping hir hands to Stevie’s knee. “We’re both so young. We don’t have to act like an old married couple.”

A little line had formed between Stevie’s brows. “And what about you? Don’t say that thing about how if I’m happy then you’re happy. I could never do something just based on that. I’d have to know for sure you’d be happy, too.”

“I know.” Bunny rubbed Stevie’s knee with hir thumbs. “Look, I wasn’t just jealous that you liked each other. I was jealous that she didn’t pay attention to me, too. I didn’t really get that at the time, but once I figured it out, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it.”

Stevie was staring at hir with this look of betrayal on her face and Bunny was afraid that ze might have made a terrible mistake.

“But doesn’t it scare you?” Stevie asked finally, her voice hushed.

Bunny swallowed hard, the world closing in until it was just the two of them sitting there on that couch. 

“Doesn’t what scare me?” ze asked.

Stevie bit her lower lip, looking down.

“What is it, Stevie? Just say it.”

“That I liked her!” Stevie cried, covering her eyes with one hand.

It didn’t hurt like Bunny was afraid it would. Instead, it felt like a weight peeling off of hir shoulders, the world shifting subtly back into its proper place, things becoming simultaneously simpler and far more complicated.

“Yes,” ze admitted. “It does scare me a little bit.”

“Oh god, I hate this,” Stevie said, and she was actually crying now. 

“It’s okay, Stevie!” Bunny said, squeezing her shoulders gently. “I trust you.”

“But how could you?” Stevie asked, her voice cracking. “It’s my fault we’re in this situation.”

“No, it isn’t. It was bound to happen sooner or later, probably. To one or both of us.”

“What?”

Bunny could feel hir face flushing. “I mean, every day brings new opportunities, right? This is just one of those opportunities.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that if you like Peggy, that’s okay. And if you want to try dating her, I’d be okay with that, too. Especially if she wanted to date me, too.”

Stevie shook her head, tears running down her face. “But if we opened our relationship, all of a sudden it just feels, like, too blown open. Like anything could come between us.”

“We don’t have to open it to just anyone,” Bunny said. “It could just be Peggy, if she’s interested in that. She was really kind to both of us when shit went down, wasn’t she? So I think we could trust her with this. And if there’s anyone else that comes along in the future, we could talk about that, too. And…you have to be willing to give me another chance. To do better than I did before.”

“You were fine, Bun,” Stevie said. “I’m the one that’s fucked up.”

“No,” Bunny said. “You’re not.”

Stevie wiped her eyes savagely with a corner of her sleeve. “Aren’t I?”

“There are lots of people out there who are in relationships with more than one person at the same time.”

Stevie bit back a sob. “But...I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t.”

“How do you know?”

Bunny was tempted to lie, but finally settled on the truth. “I don’t.”

“So...”

“So if we take it slow, and trust each other, and keep talking like your mom and Melina told us to do, then we’ll be okay.”

Stevie leaned against hir again, her shoulders shaking with silent sobs.

“We don’t have to do this, Stevie,” Bunny said, wrapping hir arms around her. “I could go either way. I just...I wanted you to know that it’s okay that you liked Peggy.”

“Mrrrrgh,” Stevie said, sniffling loudly. “It doesn’t feel okay.”

“Stevie, none of this changes how I feel about you. I love you so, so, so much. And I know you feel the same way about me, right?”

“More,” Stevie muttered wetly. “I love you even more now, my brave Bunny hunny.”

“Awwww,” Bunny said.

“And I still feel like an asshole.”

“Don’t. Peggy’s super cute. I felt like I was going to spontaneously combust the first time I saw her. And oh my god, that leopard print motorcycle jacket she was wearing at the crêperie? Just stop already.”

Stevie giggled a little bit at that, pulling hir closer. “Will you cuddle me?”

“Of course,” Bunny replied, moving to lie back along the couch. It took some maneuvering, and Stevie had to bend her legs around Bunny’s to actually fit, but they finally managed to achieve perfect cuddle formation, Stevie’s head on Bunny’s shoulder. Ze reached up to brush hir fingers through Stevie’s hair.

“Remind me to tell you in more detail about what happened at Monty’s, the day after Halloween. If you want. When you’re ready.”

It took Stevie a few days, but eventually she did ask to hear the story about how Monty and Priscilla had been the ones to suggest nonmonogamy, and about how Peggy had seemed interested. Bunny had brought the zines out after that, leaving them next to their bookshelf in case Stevie wanted to read them. Ze had come home a couple of times already to find Stevie’s nose in one of them, though she didn’t really talk much about what she’d read.

New Year’s Eve was coming up fast, and Bunny couldn’t stop thinking about how perfect that would be. Peggy lived in London, and they were going to London to meet up with Nat, Sharon, and Melina. Maybe they could all spend New Year’s Eve together. But ze was determined not to push. So ze waited and left the ball in Stevie’s court.

One night, just after they had crawled into bed and kissed goodnight, Stevie cleared her throat.

“We’re going to London for New Year’s,” she said.

“We are,” Bunny replied. Ze felt Stevie scrabbling around in the sheets and moved hir hand over.

Stevie twined their fingers together, squeezing gently. “Do you wanna see if maybe Peggy wants to hang out with us? If she doesn’t already have other plans?”

Bunny bit hir lip hard, trying not to emit the squeak that was bubbling up inside of hir. Who knew ze would ever be into such an idea, but it was all so exciting. Nat was gonna flip her lid when she finally heard about all of this. She might not even know about ethical nonmonogamy, though with Melina around, ze doubted that. That woman made sure not to leave any stone unturned.

“Bun?” Stevie asked hesitantly.

“Oh my god, yes!” Bunny said, totally startling her. “It’s the perfect idea, Stevie! It’ll be so romantic.”

Stevie was giving hir a weird look, but it wasn’t a bad weird look.

“You’re actually excited about me inviting another person to our New Year’s date?”

“Yes!” Bunny laughed, turning to face her. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too, Bun,” Stevie said, her lips quirking. “This feels a little weird still. But, I trust you.”

“I trust you, too,” Bunny said, leaning over to give her an enthusiastic kiss. “Fuck the patriarchy! Down with heteronormativity!”

Stevie narrowed her eyes. “You said that before, one time when you were half-sleep.”

“I did? That’s funny. I forgot to mention that Priscilla said that when Monty suggested we both date Peggy. She said monogamy was an option, not an obligation.”

“Hmmmm.”

“She’s an interesting one, isn’t she?” Bunny asked, curling up against her.

“Definitely,” Stevie yawned, lifting her arm so that Bunny could snuggle up against her chest.

“So...you wanna call Peggy tomorrow?” Bunny asked.

Ze felt Stevie squeeze hir tighter, a deep breath rising in her chest and pausing there for a moment before whooshing out.

“Yes,” she said.


	8. Ven Para Acá (Come Over Here)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translated lyrics for the song that inspired both the fic’s title and this chapter’s title are below:
> 
> dame la mano y ven, ven para acá  
> y vea la estrella que brilla, es la primera  
> la noche acaba de empezar  
> y vea los bailes salvajes, mirades fugaces  
> la noche acaba de empezar x5
> 
> _gimme your hand and come, come over here_   
>  _and look at that shining star, it’s the first one_   
>  _the night has only just begun_   
>  _and look at the wild dances, fleeting glances_   
>  _the night has only just begun_
> 
> y no estoy triste, no  
> son solo voces feroces, y voces salvajes, no  
> y solo voces feroces, y voces fugaces, no  
> oye dame, dame la mano y ven, ven para acá  
> y vea la estrella que brilla  
> es la primera  
> la noche acaba de empezar  
> y vea los bailes salvajes, mirades fugaces  
> la noche acaba de empezar x5  
> y vea las luces feroces, voces fugaces, baile salvaje, mirades feroces, no
> 
> _and i’m not sad, no_   
>  _it’s only fierce voices, and wild voices, no_   
>  _and only fierce voices, and fleeting voices, no_   
>  _listen, gimme, gimme your hand and come, come over here_   
>  _and look at that shining star_   
>  _it’s the first one_   
>  _the night has only just begun_   
>  _and look at those wild dances, fleeting glances_   
>  _the night has only just begun_   
>  _and look at those fierce lights, fleeting voices, wild dances, ferocious glances, no_
> 
> oye dame dame la mano, ven, ven para acá  
> oye dame dame la mano y ven  
> ven para acá x5
> 
> _listen, gimme, gimme your hand, come, come over here_   
>  _listen gimme, gimme your hand and come_   
>  _come over here x5_

Walking into the disco felt like crossing some inter-dimensional threshold, the heat and sound smacking Stevie in the face as she traded her coat for a ticket at the coat check, the rest of her group flowing in around her to do the same. Bunny was right behind her, and then Peggy and her roommates Jacques and Gabe, who were talking to Natasha and Sharon about Berlin.

They’d come to London for New Year’s Eve, and Peggy had invited them for drinks at her place first, before they all went to dinner at her favorite pub. Bunny had suggested that Stevie sit between hir and Peggy in the booth, which meant that she hadn’t really been able to pay all that much attention to anything at dinner other than the feel of Bunny pressed warm against one side while Peggy accidentally on purpose brushed up against her now and again on the other. Natasha, meanwhile, had watched the proceedings with that smug Cheshire cat smile of hers, occasionally sharing a secret look with Sharon. Nat’s aunt Melina had gone to meet a few of her London friends for dinner, promising to rendezvous with them in time to celebrate the new year.

The disco was loud and dark, the music throbbing through Stevie’s body, making the hair rise up on her arms. Apparently, there was less than an hour of 1991 left, but she wouldn’t have known it by looking at the people on the dance floor. It looked like they’d been partying for ages already, which many of them probably had been.

“Go get us some drinks!” Nat yelled to Bunny. “I’ll find us a spot on the floor.”

“Come on!” Bunny shouted, grabbing Stevie’s hand and dragging her up to the bar. The bartenders were fairly busy, so they settled in to wait. Peggy pushed up next to Bunny, giving hir a sly look, her tongue darting out to wet her lips, and then she hopped up and leaned out onto the counter, her ass and everything else on full display. Stevie could see the straps to her garter belt peeking out just under the hem of her sequin dress, holding her fishnets up, and quickly looked away. Bunny grinned over at her, a delighted look in hir eyes, and ze looked just as gorgeous with hir black jeans and black and white striped t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up. All in all, Stevie had to admit she was categorically overwhelmed, wondering what the hell she had gotten herself into exactly.

One of the bartenders noticed Peggy and pretty much rushed over to take their order. Clearly, they were already well-acquainted, and Stevie could feel her face flushing at how smoothly Peggy had taken charge of the situation, passing Bunny a tray with enough fancy-looking mixed drinks for everybody. Bunny handed her one of the drinks and she took a sip, not even tasting it.

Though she had been worried it would be a problem, Nat had found them a good spot to dance, and Sharon had come to collect them, so they wouldn’t get lost in the crowd. It seemed that Nat and Sharon had clicked with Gabe and Jacques, and they were already dancing together, that “Temple of Love” song pounding through the space. Melina showed up a moment later with a couple of sleek and handsome-looking people who smiled and waved during the shouted introductions.

Dancing wasn’t really Stevie’s thing, but she made exceptions for special occasions because Bunny loved it. She had planned to engage in the minimum effective amount of swaying back and forth to keep from making it too awkward between her, Bunny, and Peggy, but now that they were all gathered there together, she wasn’t really sure what to do.

Bunny tossed back the rest of hir drink, smiling at Stevie over the rim of the glass, then deposited it on a nearby highboy table. Peggy did the same, glancing between the two of them, a definite look of calculation on her face. Bunny stepped up and held out a hand, and Stevie’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of that. Peggy lowered her eyelashes in a show of exaggerated modesty, taking hir hand, and then Bunny was pulling her into hir arms.

There was something incredibly appealing about seeing Bunny dance with someone else, Stevie had to admit. She had still been a little bit nervous about this whole “dating Peggy” idea, but now that she was seeing it in action, and the drinks she’d had throughout the night were catching up to her, it didn’t seem like that scary of an idea, after all. And of course, Peggy was just as good a dancer as Bunny was, so they made quite a pair.

Bunny turned Peggy expertly, meeting Stevie’s eyes over one sequined shoulder, hir gaze smoldering, and Stevie felt a rush of heat course through her. Then they spun around, and Peggy was looking at her over Bunny’s shoulder, eyes wide, lower lip catching between her teeth before she smiled coyly. The party lights were flashing over them, bright splashes of color, and Stevie felt herself drawing closer as a new song dropped.

Peggy reached out to draw Stevie into their embrace, and then she was dancing with both of them, somehow, Bunny’s hands sliding around her waist from behind, Peggy draping herself all along her front. Stevie tried not to stumble, leaning into the feeling, like every one of her senses was turned up to the max. Bunny pressed up against her side, reaching over to caress Stevie’s jaw, turning her face so ze could kiss her. Then, ze turned to Peggy. They stared at each other for a long moment, Peggy’s eyes darting down to Bunny’s mouth, and then Bunny kissed her, too. Stevie felt like she could barely breathe, both of their bodies burning under her palms as she stood there and watched. Bunny broke away, meeting Peggy’s eyes and then Stevie’s, and then Peggy was turning toward her, a hungry look in her dark eyes. 

The kiss exploded through Stevie’s brain, so different than Bunny’s kisses. Where Bunny was wild, Peggy was deliberate. Bunny led Stevie without taking charge, while Peggy simply took charge. Stevie would have staggered back after they parted, if Bunny hadn't been there to catch her.

Natasha drifted over, and Bunny pushed Stevie toward Peggy, giving her a meaningful look before ze moved away. Stevie stared at Peggy, absolutely frozen, and Peggy took pity on her, taking her hands and placing them on her waist. They danced as if Stevie was leading, but really, it was Peggy dragging them back and forth around the small part of the floor they had claimed, and Stevie felt like she was going to die at any moment from the absolute overwhelm of it all. The generous curve of Peggy’s waist, sequins sticking against her sweaty palms. The way Peggy pressed their hips together so they were grinding together, grinning up at her in wild abandon. Stevie wanted to kiss her again, but she was scared to do it when Bunny wasn’t right there. Peggy finally did it herself, mouth warm and wet, tongue twining around Stevie’s, gentle yet firm.

When they parted, Stevie couldn’t help but look for Bunny in the flashing darkness, catching hir eyes, scared of what she might see in hir expression. But Bunny just smiled knowingly and kept dancing with Nat, and when they turned, Nat gave her the most salacious wink Stevie had ever seen. Stevie looked back at Peggy, who moved over to speak right into her ear.

“I really like Bunny,” she said.

Stevie grinned despite herself. “Yeah. Me, too.”

Peggy leaned back to meet her eyes. “I really like you,” she shouted, and had to repeat it closer to Stevie’s ear when she didn’t catch it the first time.

“Me, too,” Stevie said again, embarrassed that she didn’t have anything better to say.

“Good,” Peggy said, and kissed the corner of her mouth.

The volume of the music lowered slightly, the DJ announcing that the countdown to 1992 was starting. Bunny came immediately to their side, putting an arm around Peggy and Stevie both, grinning wide as they counted back from 10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

Stevie remembered plenty of years when she didn’t have anyone to kiss on New Year’s, and she couldn’t quite believe that now she had two people to kiss. She had just started to worry about who to kiss first when—

“Happy New Year!” the crowd shouted, and she snapped back into the present moment as Bunny jumped into her arms and kissed her.

“Happy New Year, my love!” ze shouted.

“Happy New Year, my hunny Bunny!” Stevie yelled back, kissing hir again, overflowing with love for this incredible person who had decided to share hir life with her. 

And then Bunny turned and kissed Peggy, a joyful, laughing kind of kiss that left Peggy looking fondly at hir as they parted. Stevie smiled helplessly at the sight of that, leaning in to wish Peggy a happy new year and kissing her, too. And then Nat and Sharon, Jacques and Gabe, Melina and her friends were all there, and everyone was giving each other hugs and kisses on the cheek, laughing and shouting, and Stevie could barely contain all of the joy and excitement that was whirling around inside of her. 

Now that it was over, 1991 seemed to have become a blur in Stevie’s memory, a confluence of happiness and doubt, peppered with plenty of stress, but also full of carefree days and gloriously debauched nights. She had successfully completed and sent off her art school application. She had a job, and an apartment, and an amazing partner. And now, she had Peggy, too. As the disco lights painted the world in multi-colored shades, illuminating all of the people around her, Stevie could only conclude that the difficulties from the past year had been totally worth it, if only because they had led her to arrive at this beautiful moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so this was meant to be a short little story, but as usual the characters wanted so much more. I hope you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> P.S. The chapter mentions the 1983 version of "Temple of Love" by Sisters of Mercy, found on the _Some Girls Wander By Mistake_ compilation album.


End file.
